Pierre Gasly fastest on opening day of F1 testing as Mercedes stuns with sleek design in Bahrain
Pierre Gasly may have set the fastest time on the opening day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain but it was Mercedes who stole the show with their sleek new concept.
Pierre Gasly was fastest on day one of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Teams had the first glimpse of their rivals in Barcelona at the pre-season shakedown, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas challenger presented a whole new concept for the new era of F1 regulations with a narrow design without sidepods.
Charles Leclerc was the fastest runner in the morning session as teams revealed aerodynamic concepts that they hope to bring to the season opener.
Gasly set the fastest time for AlphaTauri in the afternoon session as the team experimented with soft tyre compounds, the best of the day with a time of 1:33.902 after 103 laps.
"It’s good to be finishing the day in P1.”
“But we’re always asked at tests how we’re doing, and I think we’ve got to focus mainly on ourselves and our performance, not at the timing screens as, at the moment, it doesn’t mean much until we get to Quali next week," said Gasly.
Pierre Gasly on track for Scuderia AlphaTauri. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
"Of course, it’s always nice to be top of the rankings, but at the end of the day I know we’ve got some stuff to work on, so we can get more out of the car."
"Overall, it’s been a good day."
"There are lots of positives with this car but as a racing driver we always focus on the negatives, so we’ll be using the next two days of testing to really get to grips with this car and work to feel more comfortable in it."
"I’ll be working hard with the engineers tomorrow while Yuki takes over the driving of the car."
"There are new things to discover with this car every time you go out on track, so we have to make the most of every session and learn as much as we can before the first race here next week.”
Despite the fast times from Ferrari and AlphaTauri, most attention was focused on the Mercedes W13 and its slim design.
The W13 features a completely new side profile compared to the version the team debuted in Barcelona, and it is thought that the team have had to completely redesign the radiator to fit the slim model.
The team split the day's running, with Lewis Hamilton taking morning duties and George Russell driving in the afternoon session.
The slim new Mercedes-AMG Petronas W13 on track in Bahrain. (LAT Images/Mercedes F1 Team)
Hamilton ran with a rake fitted to the car to gather aerodynamic data on the new design as the team ran a program on the harder C2 and C3 tyres.
Russell followed in the evening with a session focused on "balance and drivability" as teams continue to struggle with 'porpoising'.
Cars have been jumping up and down on straights at high speed as teams come to understand the effects of the completely re-written aerodynamic regulations.
"Compared to Barcelona it's been harder to get the car well-balanced around the lap here," said Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director at the Mercedes F1 team.
"We do seem to have made a bit of progress through the day but it's always difficult to judge accurately here as the falling temperature tends to flatter everything you do later in the day."
"We've got quite a lot of work still to do regarding validation of the update kit and will continue the data collection programme over the next few days so it's a bit early to say whether everything is working as expected."
"There is certainly more to find in getting the balance right between slow and high-speed corners, and there's also a bit too much tyre overheating."
"So, plenty to keep us busy for the next two days but we are on a steep learning curve with the new car and tyres - we'll analyse what we have from today and hopefully make a step forward for tomorrow."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said the team should was proud that they have come to Bahrain with such a groundbreaking design. (LAT Images/Mercedes F1 Team)
Team boss Toto Wolff was more vocal about the potential impact of the new design.
"I think we are really proud of what we have achieved in terms of concept, but now we need to make it go fast," said Wolff.
"I think it’s a development direction that we like, and it’s about tuning the car and so we are experimenting a lot, as we’ve done during the day, and approaching it with curiosity."
F1TV analyst Jolyon Palmer had a slightly different insight after the first day of running what may be the final designs before teams hit the track for the following race week in Bahrain.
"Much hubbub about Mercedes today, but we're still yet to see any eye-catching performance from their new design, maybe they are just keeping their cards close to their chest for now," said Palmer.
"Gasly topped the times with a glory run but Ferrari still look the pick to me."
"The Leclerc time from this morning still stands out as impressive, on a C3 tyre, in hotter temps before the track was rubbered in."
Aside from the completely different designs, teams couldn't even agree on how to compare the day and night sessions, with Mercedes saying they expect the night session to be slower as the track loses temperature after the sun sets.
Other teams struggled with off-track issues, with McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo missing the opening day due to illness.
"We’re all hoping Daniel is feeling better tomorrow," said McLaren's Executive Director, Racing, Andrea Stella.
The revised Haas F1 livery after the termination of title sponsor Uralkali. (LAT Images/Haas F1 Team)
Haas F1 team, fresh from upheaval after dropping Russian driver Nikita Mazepin and title sponsor Uralkali, faced a new hurdle when their freight was delayed, missing the morning session.
Through an agreement with the FIA, Haas will two extra sessions of one hour each to make up for the lost time.
The F1 pre-season test returns for two more days in Bahrain before the 2022 season officially gets underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 18-20.
